Two men in Israel were sentenced yesterday for trafficking humans for the sole purpose of harvesting their organs. In the indictment, kidneys were harvested at prices between $125,000 to $135,000. Like other activities of the black market, service providers are able to manipulate and control the consumers because of the lack of government oversight and legal enforcement.

One of the victims was an illiterate 32-year-old single mother from an Arab village in central Israel. The pair told her she would undergo a simple operation, and she would be back on her feet in two days. At one point, the woman changed her mind, and in response Allan and Zakhalka threatened to report her to the police, telling her it was a crime to agree to donate a kidney. Like the other victims, the woman was flown to Ukraine where she underwent the surgery. When she returned home, the victims refused to pay her the $7,000 they had promised her.

For more information, please visit our Organ Trafficking page.